Poverty Inequality And Growth In Developing Countries

There are many problems regarding poverty, inequality and growth in developing countries in Asia and Africa. Policy makers at the national level and at international institutions such as the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and others have implemented various policies in order to decrease poverty and inequality. This book provides empirical observations on Asian countries and Africa. Each chapter provides theoretical and empirical analysis on regional case studies with an emphasis on policy implications. The book will be of use to many who wish to assess and improve policies in developing countries and mitigate poverty and inequality, and stimulate growth, by drawing on relevant empirical research and economic theories. Clearly, there have been numerous policy failures and the book aims to provide a basis for improving policies and outcomes based on relevant empirical observations.

This is a collection of papers examining the pressing issue of increasing inequality in the distribution of income in developing countries. While economic growth is a prerequisite for a sustained reduction in poverty, policies aimed at raising growth rates are often associated with a range of adverse short term effects, including rising unemployment, greater economic insecurity, environmental degradation and the weakening of traditional social safety nets. Pro-poor growth strategiesattempt to address these short term problems. But the ideal mix of policies, and their impact on the prospects for poverty reduction in the longer run, remain controversial topics. Growth, Inequality and Poverty comprises many of the most important contributions to the current debate.

Inequality has emerged as a key development challenge. It holds implications for economic growth and redistribution and translates into power asymmetries that can endanger human rights, create conflict, and embed social exclusion and chronic poverty. For these reasons, it underpins intense public and academic debates and has become a dominant policy concern within many countries and in all multilateral agencies. It is at the core of the 17 goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This book contributes to this important discussion by presenting assessments of the measurement and analysis of global inequality by leading inequality scholars, aligning these to comprehensive reviews of inequality trends in five of the world's largest developing countries - Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa.

In this book Edward and Sumner argue that to better understand the impact of global growth on poverty it is necessary to consider what happens across a wide range of poverty lines. Starting with the same datasets used to produce official estimates of global poverty, they create a model of global consumption that spans the entire world’s population. They go on to demonstrate how their model can be utilised to understand how different poverty lines imply very different visions of how the global economy needs to work in order for poverty to be eradicated.

One side in the current debate about who benefits from growth has focused solely on average impacts on poverty and inequality, while the other side has focused on the diverse welfare impacts found beneath the averages. Both sides have a point.

Is there a tradeoff between raising growth and reducing inequality and poverty? This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on the complex links between growth, inequality, and poverty, with causation going in both directions. The evidence suggests that growth can be effective in reducing poverty, but its impact on inequality is ambiguous and depends on the underlying sources of growth. The impact of poverty and inequality on growth is likewise ambiguous, as several channels mediate the relationship. But most plausible mechanisms suggest that poverty and inequality reduce growth, at least in the long run. Policies play a role in shaping these relationships and those designed to improve equality of opportunity can simultaneously improve inclusiveness and growth.